September 15, 2006

Badger in The Animals of Farthing Wood
Badger in Bodger and Badger
A family of badgers in Fantastic Mr Fox
A whole crowd of badgers on Badger Badger Badger
And, of course, the Music Centre’s very own This, Thatz and T’other

September 14, 2006

The answer, apparently, is that one may have been getting ideas from the other. A mere two months before the WC final, we have this report…

“Boris appeared in a charity football match, on 3 May 2006, between English and German “legends” (squads comprising ex-footballers and celebrities) at the Madejski Stadium, Reading. The German side won 4-2. Playing for the final 10 minutes, Boris achieved instant notoriety with his extraordinary tackle on German midfielder Maurizio Gaudino, where without warning he ran straight at Gaudino from about 10 yards, dropped his head, and clattered Gaudino around the midriff. Johnson later explained his actions: “I’m a rugby player, really, and I knew I was going to get to him, and when he was about two yards away I just put my head down. There was no malice. I was going for the ball with my head, which I understand is a legitimate move in soccer.” Commentators later noted that the referee appeared to agree with Johnson in that Johnson was not even booked for the tackle — let alone dismissed from the field of play — and that in any case Boris did get the ball (albeit accidentally). While Gaudino went down and took some time to recover, some suggest he may have dived.”

I feel there is cause to question the accuracy of this account – surely Boris was notorious long before this?

May 02, 2006

The Students' Union is currently urging us all to vote in the local council elections this Thursday, apparently for the sole reason of stopping the BNP gaining a foothold.

Last year, a member of the campaign team of each candidate for the seats in both the House of Commons and the local council for which I was registered to vote, delivered to each home in the area a leaflet detailing why, in that candidate's opinion, we should vote for him/her. Based on this information, along with what I already knew or thought about each candidate and the party he/she represented, I was able to make a reasonably informed decision as to which of them I should vote for.

This year I have received no such information. I have no idea who the candidates are, let alone what any of them claims to stand for. I could probably find this information if I was prepared to search hard enough, but why should I? As far as I can see it should be up to the candidates to make it available to me and all the other voters in this election, not up to me to seek it out. I shall not be voting on Thursday, and no doubt this will be viewed as apathy on my part and on that of all others who do likewise. It's not: it's apathy on the part of the candidates. Why should I bother to vote for any of them if they can't be bothered to tell me why, as they see it, they deserve my vote?

I will point out here that I am completely opposed to the BNP and the policies it stands for, but I consider that, if I decide to vote for a particular candidate, it should be on his or her own merits rather than because of any dissuasion from voting for his or her opponent(s).